The contents of Applications No. TOKUGANHEI 10-363906 and TKUGANHEI 10-365322, each of which is filed on Dec. 22, 1998 in Japan, is hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the structure on the rear underside of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Structures related to that of the present invention have a rear floor panel, and rear bumper or the like having a protrusion for a fuel tank between the front and rear axles, a fuel tank, a differential gear to the rear of the fuel tank, and a well for housing a spare tire.
In related structures as noted above, however, part of the air which passes from the front of the vehicle, guided along the bottom side thereof is caught up and dwells in the space above the differential, because of the well part.
Additionally, because the bottom edge of the rear bumper extends downward, part of the air is pulled upward so as to dwell in the space at the front of the bumper.
At the rear of the vehicle, part of the air exiting from the bottom rear side is pulled upward and disturbed, thereby causing an increase in resistance.
For this reason, the air which has cooled the fuel tank and the differential gear is hindered from passing smoothly toward the rear of the vehicle.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an underside structure for a vehicle, which not only provides cooling for drive elements, but also reduces the disturbance of air at the rear of the vehicle.
The structure of the present invention has a rear undercover main body, a flow path, an air intake opening, and an air exhaust opening. The rear undercover main body has an inclined planar part that is inclined upward toward the rear of the vehicle, this inclined planar part being disposed beneath a drive element that is further to the rear than the fuel tank between the front and rear axles of the vehicle, so as to cover the rear under part of the vehicle, including the drive element thereof. The air flow path is disposed between the rear undercover main body and the drive element. The inclined planar part minimally delineates a rear part of the air flow path. The air intake opening is disposed further to the front than the drive element, and the air exhaust opening is disposed further to the rear than the inclined planar part. Air flowing in from the air intake opening passes through the air flow path, and flows out from the exhaust opening.
In the above-noted structure, part of the air from the air intake opening further forward than the drive elements is divided off and guided into the air flow path.
Air that passes beneath the rear undercover main body is formed into a negative-pressure region by the action of the inclined planar part.
For this reason, the part of the air passes through the air flow path and is smoothly exhausted from the air exhaust opening.
Therefore, cooling of the drive elements that face the air flow path is performed smoothly, and there is a reduction in the disturbance of air at the rear of the vehicle.